Orphaned in a forest fire in which she herself almost died, Carol Vance was saved by the God of Fire, who compensated her for her loss by giving her his power to control and create flames. She was adopted by the wealthy Martin family and as a teenager decided to use her powers to battle injustice as Wildfire. She was active in the early 1940s, battling foes such as the Dean of Darkness.[1]
Wildfire was at one point intended to be a member of the All-Star Squadron, but DC vetoed the idea, as there was already a character called Wildfire active in another team book, Legion of Super-Heroes. The character of Firebrand was created instead to fill her slot in the Squadron.